Among the slew of panels we attended at SXSW last month, the one that stuck with us the most was a conversation about the ongoing problem of gender imbalance in journalism. Hosted by leading women in the field, it covered everything from underrepresented regions across the globe to why we need more female photojournalists working in war zones. Yet for all its urgency, the room was virtually empty, with the smattering of audience members made up almost entirely of women. Clearly, we still have a lot of work to do.

So how do we tell more women’s stories? To start with, we get more women like this week’s guest out there listening to them. Author of the darkly comedic memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan which was turned into the 2016 movie Whiskey Tango Foxtrot starring Tina Fey, Kim Barker spent 2004 to 2009 based out of New Delhi and Islamabad as the South Asia bureau chief for The Chicago Tribune, and spent years on the ground covering the war in Afghanistan. We chat with her about where her job as a war correspondent took her to, the lessons she learned as both a journalist and a traveler, and how, as a woman in her field, you always "have to be tougher than the guys.”

Thanks to Kim for stopping by and sharing so much. Plus, a massive thanks to Kerrianne Thomas for engineering and mixing. Check back every Monday for the latest installment of Women Who Travel. To keep up with our podcast each week, subscribe to Women Who Travel on the iTunes store and if you have a minute to spare, leave a review—we’d love to hear from you.